Paris Pass Review & Tips: Is the Paris Pass Worth it? (2024)

If you are planning a trip to Paris and plan to visit a number of the city’s top attractions, you may be able to save money and time by purchasing the Paris Pass.

The Paris Pass provides free admission into over 80 of the top attractions in Paris. Depending on the duration of Paris Pass you purchase this includes popular attractions like the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, Versailles, Eiffel Tower and a Seine River cruise.

It also includes a free Hop on Hop Off Bus Tour ticket. It also allows you to skip long ticket lines at some of the top museums and attractions to save you time on your trip.

While the Paris Pass can be a great deal and save some travelers time and money, it will not be a good value for all travelers. We’ll help provide all the information you need to know to decide if the Paris Pass is a good deal for you, decide on which pass to buy, and how to get the most value out of your pass.

We’ll also share our own experiences using the Paris Pass, which we have used on a number of trips to Paris, and provide an honest breakdown of our own cost-savings.

The Paris Pass includes two separate elements:

• Paris Attractions Pass
• Paris Museum Pass

The Paris Pass includes free admission to a number of popular museums and attractions in and around Paris, as well as free 1 day use of the Hop-on Hop-Off sightseeing bus. The Paris Pass also comes with a free digital guidebook.

If you have questions not answered by this article, the guidebook, or their website, you can contact the company’s customer service team during business hours or send them an email. You can find out more about the Paris Pass on their official website.

Over the years, there have been some changes to the Paris Pass product. We’ll summarise the key changes below.

In 2021, the Paris Pass changed the Paris Attractions Pass to a digital only product rather than a physical pass, the guidebook is now also digital only, and the Paris Visite travel card is no longer included with the pass. The Paris Museum Pass part of the pass still remains a physical product. Our review has been updated to include these changes, but some of the images we use still reflect the old products.

In 2022, the Paris Pass changed so that only the 4 and 6-day versions of the Pass include the Paris Museum pass. Pricing for the 2 and 3-day Paris Passes were reduced to account for this fact, however it does make deciding if this pass is worth it for you a bit more complicated.

In 2023, the Paris Museum Pass component of the pass changed to a digital version. Previously this was a physical pass that had to be collected in Paris, however as of August 2023 this is now delivered digitally as with the rest of the product.

In October 2023, the Paris Pass started including a Paris Museum Pass with all versions of the pass. The 3 day Paris Pass includes a 2 day Paris Musuem Pass as there is no 3 day Paris Museum Pass.

Attractions Included in the Paris Pass?

Paris Pass holders are currently granted free admission to up to 80 museums, tours, and other attractions in and around Paris. These include some of the most popular Paris museums and attractions.

The Paris Pass is divided into two components, which are the Paris Attractions Pass and the Paris Museum Pass.

The Paris Attractions Pass includes:

• Eiffel Tower (guided climb tour)
• Dali Paris
• Grevin Wax Museum
• Paris Aquarium
• Montparnasse Tower
• Seine river cruise
  
• Galeries Lafayette fashion show
• Notre Dame (guided tour of exterior during its closure)
• Mini Perfume Workshop
• Macarons in Montmartre
• Stade de France tour
• Ballon de Paris Generali
• A number of walking tours, including an Emily in Paris Tour and a Montmartre Tour

The Paris Museum Pass covers the majority of museums in and around Paris, including highlights such as:

• The Louvre
• Arc de Triomphe
• Musée Rodin
• Musée d’Orsay
• Centre Pompidou
• Sainte-Chapelle
• Château de Versailles
• Château de Fontainebleau
• Picasso Museum

You can check out the full up-to-date list of attractions here. Fast track options are available at several attractions, allowing one to enter a faster entrance line designed for pass holders.

Note that while the pass ensures general admission to the covered sites, the pass may not cover admission to special exhibits, audioguides, or special events.

Reservations are required or recommended at a number of the attractions (e.g., popular attractions, wine tasting, walking tours), but this information is clearly noted in the free Paris Pass guidebook that comes with the passes as well as on the website.

You can see all the attractions and tours that require pre-booking on the Paris Pass website here. That page also has all the links you need for pre-booking.

Since 2019, the Louvre also requires that all visitors pre-book tickets online to handle a higher volume of visitors. Without a pre-booked ticket, you may not get entry or may have to wait longer. You will need your Paris Museum Pass number and the date and time you wish to visit.

You can book your timeslot here once you have your pass.

Although the Paris Pass covers a lot of attractions in and around Paris, there are several major attractions in Paris that are NOT currently included with the Paris Pass that you should take into consideration when planning your trip.

These include the Grand Palais, the Paris Catacombs, Jacquemart-André Museum, Luxembourg Museum, Disneyland Paris, Marmottan Museum,Musée de Montmartre, and the dome at Sacré Coeur.

Transportation Options included with the Paris Pass?

All Paris Passes come with the option to collect a free all-day 1-day ticket for the Big Bus Paris sightseeing Hop-on, Hop-off bus. The bus route stops at 9 different stops (e.g., Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, Trocadéro) and the buses stop every 8 to 15 minutes at each stop. Audio commentary is available in over 10 different languages.

The free bus ticket can be collected from staff at any of the noted Big Bus Paris bus stops (just wait for the bus to come by if there are no staff there). You can get on and off the bus as many times as you like in a single day.

PARIS PASS SIGHTSEEING BUS TIP: Start using the bus in the morning to get the most out of your ticket.Note that there are several hop-on hop-off bus companies in Paris, so look out for the Big Bus Paris logo so you get on the right buses included on your ticket.

Other Paris Pass Inclusions?

The pass includes fast-track access to a handful of attractions (e.g., Paris Aquarium, Centre Pompidou, Grevin Wax Museum) where you get to skip the ticket lines although it does not allow you to skip security lines.

There are adult passes (anyone 18 years or age or older), and child passes (ages 2-17). All the Paris Passes include the Paris Attractions Pass, however the lower priced child Paris Passes do NOT include a Paris Museum Pass.

The Paris Museum Pass is not included with any child passes because most museums covered by the Paris Museum Pass give free entry to children under age 18 accompanied by an adult. Currently there are only 6 of the over 50 museums and monuments that do not provide free entry to children (e.g., Museum of French Cinema, Interactive Science Museum) and these are noted as such in the Paris Pass Guidebook.

Children under age 4 get free entrance to most attractions in Paris and ride for free on public transit with an adult with a ticket or pass. So if you have young children, you should check to see if the pass makes sense for them.

The only decision you need to make is which length of pass do you want to purchase. The Paris Pass is currently sold as 2-day, 3-day, 4-day, or 6-day passes.

Passes are activated after your first usage and must be used on consecutive days. So if you purchase a 4-day pass with your first visit to an attraction on July 10th, it will be valid from July 10th through July 13th.

You should check the website for the latest prices, but as of December 2023 here are the Paris Pass prices.

TIP: You can save 5% on the Paris Pass with code “AFFGOALL“, just enter the discount code at checkout for your saving!

Adult Paris Pass Prices (anyone 18 years of age or older):

• €159 for a 2-day pass
• €194 for a 3-day pass
• €224 for a 4-day pass
• €258 for a 6-day pass

Children (any child age 2 to 17 years of age):

• €74 for a 2-day pass
• €89 for a 3-day pass
• €94 for a 4-day pass
• €99 for a 6-day pass

So now that you know what the Paris Pass is, what it includes, and the cost, the next step is deciding whether it is going to be good value for you and your trip to Paris.

Deciding whether the Paris Pass will save you money is a bit complicated. As mentioned earlier, the pass includes two separate passes (the Paris Attractions Pass and the Paris Museum Pass) with each card having its own value. In addition, passes with shorter durations don’t include the Paris Museum Pass.

We’ll try to break it down into steps to help you decide if the Paris Pass will save you money.

Step 1: What Attractions do you want to Visit?

First, you should make a list of all the attractions you want to visit during your time in Paris and specifically note the ones that are included on the Paris Pass for the duration you will be visiting Paris.

Try to come up with a realistic list based on the amount of time you’ll be in Paris as you don’t want to spend your entire trip going from attraction to attraction. Once you come up with your list, check the normal entrance fee cost for each online or using a recent guidebook. Add up the costs to come up with a total.

Note the examples below (based on December 2023 prices):

Example A: Let’s say from the Paris Pass sites I want to visit the Louvre (€17.00), Musee d’Orsay (€16.00), Versailles (€19.50), Musee Rodin (€13.00), Tour Montparnasse (€19.00), Sainte-Chapelle (€11.5), Conciergerie (€11.5), Arc de Triomphe (€13), Centre Pompidou (€15.00), do the Eiffel Tower guided climb (€38) and do a Seine river cruise (€18.00). The grand total of normal adult entry fees for all these attractions would be €191.5.

Example B: Let’s say from the Paris Pass sites I want to visit the Louvre (€17.00), Arc de Triomphe (€13.00), Musee d’Orsay (€16.00), Versailles (€19.5), guided Eiffel Tower climb (€38), Sainte-Chapelle (€11.5), Conciergerie (€11.50), The Army Museum (€15.00), Pantheon (€11.50), Centre Pompidou (€15.00), Château de Vincennes (€9.50), Dali Paris (€14.00), Paris Aquarium (€26), Montparnasse Tower (€19.00), a walking tour (€36.00), wine tasting (€35.00), and do a Seine river cruise (€18.00). I also want to take advantage of the Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour (€45.00) to connect some of these sights on one of my days of sightseeing. The grand total of normal adult entry fees for all these attractions would be €370.5.

Step 2: How many days do you need to visit all the included attractions?

Next, you’ll need to decide how many days it will likely take you to visit all the attractions you want to visit. Remember it can be easy to be too ambitious and think you’ll take in three museums, a castle, an aquarium, and a boat tour in one day. Try to leave yourself plenty of time so you don’t get exhausted and overwhelmed. Try to be realistic.

Example A: On my first day I want to visit Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie in the morning, then do the guided Eiffel Tower Climb (see our Eiffel Tower guide). After lunch in the afternoon I will visit the Arc de Triomphe and the Centre Pompidou.

On my second day I want to visit the Louvre all morning, have lunch, and then spend the afternoon at the Musee d’Orsay. I will then watch the sunset from the Tour Montparnasse.

On my third day, I want to head out to Versailles to explore the palace and gardens, return in the afternoon to visit Musee Rodin and then do an evening Seine river cruise. This means I would need 3 days.

Example B: On my first full day I want to get oriented to the city using the Paris hop-on, hop-off bus and use it to visit some of the sites included on the pass (Arc de Triomphe, Musee d’Orsay) plus do the Eiffel Tower guided climb.

On my second day I want to get up early to visit Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergerie before lunch, take a Montmartre walking tour and visit the Dali Museum in the afternoon, and then do some shopping.

On Day 3, I want to visit the Louvre in the morning, do the wine tasting after lunch, then visit the Paris Aquarium.

On Day 4, I want to head out to Versailles for the morning and afternoon and return to visit the Centre Pompidou which is open late.

On Day 5, I want to visit the Army Museum, the Pantheon, and go up the Tour Montparnasse.

On Day 6, I want to do a Paris walking tour, visit the Chateau de Vincennes after lunch, and then do a Seine river cruise to finish up my last night in Paris. This means I would need 6 days.

Step 3: Compare your total cost versus the cost of the Paris Pass.

Now, add together the total attraction costs, then compare it to the cost of the needed Paris Pass. This should tell you your cost savings, if any.

Example A: OK, so it would cost me €191.5 to visit all the places on my list. A 3 day Paris Pass costs €194 as of December 2023. In this scenario I would not save money. As most of the attractions I want to visit are actually covered by the Paris Museum Pass it would make more sense to just buy that and pay for the other attractions separately.

Example B: OK, so it would cost me €406.5 as an adult to visit all the places. I think I need 6 days to visit all the attractions and the cost of the 6-day Paris Pass is €259 (as of December 2023). The cost savings with a Paris Pass would be €147.5 for one adult. In this case I would have ample cost savings and it would keep me from waiting in line at a couple of attractions. In this case, the Paris Pass is probably a very good value.

Note: I would also be sure to check for current sales of the Paris Pass as 5% to 20% discount sales are run occasionally each year. A reduced pass price can significantly increase your cost savings!

Step 4 (optional): Paris Pass versus separate Passes

The next step is optional and requires some more calculations. For some people, the above will be enough as it shows the Paris Pass will either save them money (answer: buy the Paris Pass) or doesn’t save them money (answer: don’t buy the Paris Pass). But you can find out more information by digging further into the numbers if you wish.

As previously mentioned, the Paris Pass includes the Paris Museum Pass. However, the Paris Museum Pass can also be purchased separately as a standalone product. Depending on which attractions and activities you are visiting, you might find that just purchasing the Paris Museum Pass is more cost effective for your trip.

Understand the Paris Pass components

As mentioned earlier, the Paris Pass is made up of 2 separate passes as explained below:

1.) Paris Museum Pass

The Paris Museum Pass is a popular museum pass in Paris that allows free entry into a number of the city’s most popular museums and monuments. It also includes priority line entrances at some of the included sites. This is a pass I have long recommended you can read my full review of the Paris Museum Pass in an earlier post. Museums include:

• Louvre
• Arc de Triomphe
• Musée Rodin
• Musée d’Orsay
• Musée de l’Orangerie
• National Museum of Asian Arts
• The Army Museum
• Quai Branly Museum
• Conciergerie
• Centre Pompidou
• Sainte-Chapelle
• Château de Versailles
• Château de Fontainebleau
• Basilica Cathedral of Saint-Denis

2.) The Paris Pass (Paris Attractions Pass)

This is the unique pass that is part of the Paris Pass package. It can not be purchased separately, only as part of the Paris Pass. It includes free entry into a number of Paris attractions, museums, and tours. Attractions include:

• Eiffel Tower guided climb
• Hop-on Hop-off sightseeing bus tour
• Dali Museum
• Musée Grévin
• Paris Aquarium
• Paris Chocolate Museum
• Montparnasse Tower
• Paris walking tours
  
• Galeries Lafayette fashion show
• Wine tasting
• Seine river cruise
• Petit Train de Montmartre
• Parc Asterix

Calculate the Cost of each of the 2 Paris Pass components

Next you need to find out the value of each component of the Paris Pass. You can look up the cost for the Paris Museum Pass Card online. Then take the Paris Pass price and subtract the Paris Museum Pass price to get the Paris Attractions Pass value.

Cost breakdown (based on December 2023) pass prices:

• 2 Day Paris Pass: €55 (Museum Pass) + €104 (Attractions Pass) = €159.00
• 3 Day Paris Pass: €55 (2 Day Museum Pass) + €139 (Attrractions Pass) = €194.00
• 4 Day Paris Pass: €70 (Museum Pass) + €154 (Attractions Pass) = €224.00
• 6 Day Paris Pass: €85 (Museum Pass) + €174 (Attractions Pass) = €259.00

Check the Paris Pass savings per component

Next with the information from above, use your particular Paris itinerary (see an example 2 day Paris itinerary here) to calculate your cost savings for each of the three Paris Pass passes.

This step can take a while as it requires you to sort the attractions you want to visit by whether they are covered by the Paris Museum Pass or Paris Pass.

You can check the Paris Museum Pass website for the list of museums and monuments covered by that pass and then check this list for the attractionscovered by the Paris Attractions Pass.

Example A: I had determined that I would need 3 days to visit all the attractions on my list. I determined that a 3-day Paris Pass would not save me money as most of the attractions I want to visit are on the Paris Museum Pass, which is not included in the 3-day Paris Pass.

However I can still check if it makes more sense to buy the Paris Museum Pass and then purchase individual tickets for the other attractions I want to visit which are not on the Paris Museum Pass.

So my relevant information I need is that it is €70 for a 4 Day Paris Museum Pass (there is no 3-day Paris Pass).

Paris Museum Pass – In Example A, many of the attractions that I want to visit are included on the Paris Museum Pass. These are Sainte Chapelle, Conciergerie, Arc de Triomphe, Musee d’Orsay, Centre Pompidou, the Louvre, Musee Rodin, and Versailles. These total €116.5.

As the Paris Museum Pass only costs €70 for four days, I will definitely save by investing in that, however the Paris Pass doesn’t make as much sense for this itinerary.

Example B:I had determined that I would need 6 days to visit all the attractions on my list, and that the Paris Pass would provide cost savings.

So my relevant information I need is for the 6 Day Paris Pass: €85 (Museum Pass) + €174 (Attractions Pass) = €259.00

From the attractions I want to visit, the following were covered by the Paris Museum Pass: the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Musee d’Orsay, Versailles, Sainte-Chapelle, Conciergerie, Army Museum, Pantheon, Centre Pompidou and Chateau de Vincennes. These would cost €139.5 with normal adult entry fees.

Given that a 6 Day Paris Museum Pass costs €85, I would have significant cost savings with the Paris Museum pass.

Paris Attractions Pass – In Example B, I wanted to visit a number of attractions included on the Paris Attraction Pass. These were the Eiffel Tower, Paris Aquarium, Montparnasse Tower, Montparnasse walking tour, Dali museum, another walking tour, wine tasting, Seine River cruise and Hop on Hop off bus. Booking these myself would cost €267. The Paris Attractions pass component on the 6-day Paris Pass costs €174, so this is another significant cost saving.

In this case the 6-day Paris Pass is definitely worth it.

Finally, Decide What you Need to Purchase

Now, you can take all the above information you calculated to determine if you should buy the Paris Pass, or whether it would make more sense to buy the Paris Museum Pass and then purchase separate tickets.

Example A: In this case, I would probably want to individually purchase a 4-Day Paris Museum Pass and then purchase a ticket for a Seine river cruise, the Eiffel tower and Montparnasse Tower separately.

Example B: In this case, I would want to purchase the Paris Pass as it represents a significant cost savings.

Summary of Paris Pass vs Paris Museum Pass

We appreciate that the decision to buy either the Paris Pass or the Paris Museum Pass (or neither!) can be tricky. Of all the passes we have used and reviewed over the years, the Paris Pass is definitely one of the more complex options.

The decision will generally come down to how long you are staying in Paris and which attractions you will be visiting.

For stays of 4 days and longer, we think the Paris Pass generally makes sense as it includes the Paris Museum Pass and covers the majority of what you will likely want to see in the city.

For stays of 3 days or less, the decision is less clear. If you will primarily be focusing on museums, then a standalone Paris Museum Pass will likely make more sense. You can then purchase separate tickets for the other attractions you are interested in visiting.

For stays of 3 days or less where you would like to experience things like wine tasting, the views from Montparnasse Tower, hop-on hop-off bus and guided tours, then the Paris Pass can definitely offer good value.

The Paris Pass can currently only be purchased online. It is valid for 24 months after date of purchase. Once purchased, the pass is available as a digital product which you can save in your smartphone in the Paris Pass app. You can also print it out if you would prefer a physical copy.

The Paris Museum Pass when purchased with the Paris Pass is, as of August 2023, also a digital product which you can print out or save to your smartphone. Note that previous to August 2023 this it was a physical product that had to be picked up in Paris, so if you purchased your Paris Pass before August 2023 you will still need to collect it in person.

Some websites may still refer to this collection process but for new pass purchases everything is now delivered digitally, which saves you having to lose time collecting it.

If you did buy your Paris Pass prior to August 2023 then you will need to collect your Museum Pass in person. The collection point is theBig Bus Ticket Shop located at 11 Avenue de L’Opera, 75001 Paris. The office is open 7 days a week from 9:30am (09:30) to 6:30pm (18.30).Any discounts offered online will not apply to in-person purchases.

• Plan ahead. Do a little research and figure out what attractions are included with the pass and which ones you plan to visit so you can make an informed choice of whether the Paris Pass makes sense for you or not. Use the information and examples above.

• The Paris Pass is valid for 24 months after purchase so you can purchase them up to a year before you plan to activate them.

• The Paris Pass is going to be of the most value for those coming for longer stays as the longer the Pass duration, the greater the potential value. So a 4 day pass will likely lead to greater cost savings than a 2 day pass. Similarly, the value multiplies by the number of travelers in your group so even if each person only saves €20, that is a saving of €80 for a family of 4!

• Note that the Pass may not offer as much savings for those who are eligible for concessions (e.g., seniors, EU citizens under 26, young children) as they may get reduced entrance fees at some attractions and some sites grant free admission. Many museums in Paris grant free admission to younger children, particularly children under age 12. So if you are traveling with those who qualify for reduced entry fees, check out the prices before buying a Paris Pass.

• If you are considering a 2 or 3 Day Paris Passes, note that these both come with a 2 day Paris Museum Pass. So you will need to plan your sightseeing accordingly. In some cases, the 4 Day Paris Pass might make more sense for a 3-day trip, depending on your itinerary.

• Read through the Paris Pass digital guidebook BEFORE your trip. The more you know and the more prepared you are, the more value you can get out of your pass.

• Remember that once you first use the pass, the time begins and it is only good for the next 2, 3, 4, or 6 consecutive days. When we had the pass, we thought about our days in Paris as either Pass days (focused on Pass attractions) or non-Pass days (focused on free things and attractions not covered by the pass).

• The Paris Pass has two separate components and you’ll want to have each of these on you throughout your trip. All the products are delivered digitally. You can however print them out if you’d prefer not to rely on your smartphone.

• The Paris Pass for children does not include a Paris Museum Pass as they get free entry into almost all of Paris’s museums and monuments if accompanied by an adult. Teens should carry a photo ID showing their birthdate as proof may be required to get free entry or receive age-related discounts.

• Try to begin using your Paris Pass on the morning of the first day you want to start using it so you can the get the most of it! Remember that once you first use the pass, the time begins and it is only valid for the next XX consecutive days. So if you have a 2 day pass and start using it on Monday (whether it is 8am or 8pm), it will be good for Monday and Tuesday only.

• Prioritize attractions you want to visit with higher entry fees if your pass does not cover your entire time in Paris. Use your Paris Pass to get you into those places you want to visit that are more costly (and have skip the line access) such as Versailles, the Louvre, Hop-on Hop-off bus, Eiffel Tower, the wine tasting, and the Seine river cruise to get the most value of your pass. If you don’t have time to visit lower cost places with your pass, then you can always visit them at your own expense later in your trip.

• When planning your time in Paris, be sure to consider attractions you want to visit that are not covered by the Paris Pass such as the Moulin Rouge, or the Catacombs. Don’t forget to factor in things like wandering around the city’s parks, shopping, comparing macarons, and sipping coffee or having a fancy afternoon tea. Plan your days so that you can maximize your Paris Pass days, and group together attractions by geographical location so you can minimize time spent traveling around the city.

• If you plan to use the Paris hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus, start using it in the morning so you can use it for the full day. You can get on and off as many times as you like in that time.

• The Paris Pass smartphone app has a built-in map. However, I personally prefer a physical map, and I love the detailed laminated Streetwise Paris Map produced by Michelin and always have it with me in Paris.

• As of 2021, the Paris Pass does NOT include travel on public transport. You will need to buy separate Metro or bus tickets. Tickets are easy to buy at Metro self-service stations, Metro ticket windows, or from bus personnel. Getting caught without a valid ticket can get you an instant fine, so be sure to always keep your ticket on you until your journey is completed. See our complete guide to getting around Paris for tips on transport.

• In the past, you could use the Paris Museum Pass to visit the same attraction multiple times if you wished during the pass’s validity period. This has changed. You can now only visit each museum or attraction once. You will not be allowed multiple entries or re-entry. So plan your visits wisely if there is a place you want to spend a lot of time visiting.

• Paris is the most visited city on earth so be prepared for some crowds and lines pretty much any time of the year, but summers can be particularly crazy. Try to visit the most popular attractions (e.g., Versailles, Louvre, Orsay) in the mornings near opening or alternatively later in the afternoons for the best experience. Also check for evening hours as many museums have late opening hours on certain days of the week which are often less crowded times to visit. Evening hours can also make it easier to see more attractions in a single day.

• For some of the attractions you will need to book ahead. These currently include things like the wine tasting experience, guided Eiffel Tower tour, as well as some museums like the Louvre. The guidebook will have the information you need to make any reservations. I would organize these tours as soon you know when you plan to visit to ensure you get a spot on your desired date as they are both popular.

• Most attractions in Paris shut down for at least one day per week. Smaller attractions may have limited hours and may only be open a few days each week. Also attractions may be closed or partially closed for long periods of time for restoration work. It is always a good idea to check their website or call ahead before setting out.

• Check ahead in the Guidebook or on the Paris Pass website to see which attractions you plan to visit provide Skip the Line access to pass holders. If you get to one of these attractions and are not sure if you are in the correct line for pass holders, ask a security guard or museum personnel so you can be sure.

• If there’s a tour of guided experience you want to do, check what times it runs as some only run once or twice a day. For example, the Eiffel Tower is likely on your list, and this is managed as a guided tour which runs at specific times a day. You will definitely want to plan your day and book these tours well in advance so as to avoid disappointment. The Paris Pass website and guidebook lists the regular tour times available.

• Note that although you get to skip the ticket lines at most places, you can’t fast-track security lines. Several places with tighter security still require that you wait in the same security line as everyone else. These include Sainte-Chapelle (only priority access for ticketing, not security line) the Louvre (only skips the ticket line), and Versailles (can skip ticketing line but must wait in same security line). For these three busy attractions (especially Versailles), I would suggest trying to get there around opening to avoid a long wait.

• Make note if any of the attractions you want to visit offer a free admission day during your visit. If they do, you could always visit them on a non-pass day. For instance, we’ve visited the Louvre, Château deFontainebleau, and Musée Cluny on free admission days without needing to have a pass. Just be warned that they tend to be much more crowded on free days!

• Don’t try to see all the included attractions (or even half) in one visit.Some people get their Paris Passes and go down the list visiting as many as they can squeeze into their trip. We certainly know the feeling of wanting to see everything, but if you do this, you are going to be exhausted. Paris has so much to offer that is not on that list and you’ll want to take time to slow down and soak up the city whether it is lingering over a cup of coffee at a café, sitting in a park, watching the sunset over the Seine, or dancing at a club.Hopefully you’ll be back again in the future to catch those attractions you miss, but don’t go through Paris as if it is one big checklist of famous places.

Laurence and I often use city passes and museum passes in cities to save money and time and although we had both visited Paris before, we hadn’t been to a number of the attractions offered by the Paris Pass.

In fact, Laurence had never been to a few of the city’s most famous attractions (e.g., the Louvre, Versailles, Sainte-Chapelle) despite a number of prior visits and I wanted to revisit some of these attractions. We had been sent a voucher online for our Paris Passes and then picked up the Paris Passes at the Big Bus Ticket desk in central Paris (note this was when they were physical passes, only the Paris Museum Pass is still a physical pass). We had no problem getting our Paris Passes and we were also able to pick up a sightseeing bus map.

We were in Paris for 6 days total and so we used our Paris Pass for four of those days. During our 4-day Paris Pass period, we ended up visiting 13 attractions covered by the Pass plus the Hop-on Hop-off bus. That is about 3.5 attractions per day. In some attractions we spent a long time (e.g., Versailles, Louvre) whereas we spent much less time in other attractions (e.g., Espace Dali, Arc de Triomphe, Museum of Decorative Arts).

We were able to skip the ticket line at most attractions and three of the attractions we visited (Louvre, Centre Pompidou, Grevin Wax Museum) allowed Pass holders to join priority lines with the Fast Track Entry privilege. This definitely saved us time at the Louvre which had long lines when we visited although we still had to wait in the security line.

As far as cost-savings, here is how things worked out for us:

Note that prices have changed since we did the trip, and some attractions or features have been added or removed since our visit in this example. However, this should give you an idea of what’s possible.

As you can see from our example we ended up with a savings of €74.15 each for a total of €148.30 for the two of us. This is definitely a considerable cost savings for four days of sightseeing!

We also broke down the cost savings by each Paris Pass component. We saved €28.00 each with the Paris Museum Pass or €56.00 for the two of us, and €46.15 each with the Paris Attractions Pass or €92.30 for the two of us. We didn’t keep track of our public transportation usage but we probably either saved money or broke even as we used public transit a lot during our trip.

So the Paris Pass was definitely the best fit for this particular trip to Paris!

We would highly recommend that all visitors to Paris consider purchasing the Paris Pass. It is not a great fit for everyone, but it can potentially save you a lot of money on attractions.

The pass is particularly good for first-time visitors, active sightseers, those who plan to use public transportation, and those interested in doing the activities (e.g., sightseeing bus, walking tour, river cruise).

Check the official website for the Paris Pass and see if this attraction pass is a good fit for your next trip to Paris.

However, it is probably not a good fit for those on a tight budget, those who don’t plan to visit a lot of attractions, those visiting Paris for a shorter period of time, or those primarily interested in visiting attractions not covered by the Pass.

In these cases, you might consider either a standalone Paris Museum Pass, or just booking attractions individually. Here are our recommended links to book some of Paris’s top attractions, as well as the Paris Museum Pass. We list both the official site (where available) and GetYourGuide, which is where we normally book our tickets for attractions and tours around the world.

• Paris Museum Pass – Book on Official Site / Book on GetYourGuide
• Eiffel Tower – Book on Official Site / Book Tour on GetYourGuide
• Louvre Museum – Book on Official Site / Book on GetYourGuide
• Tour Montparnasse –Book on Official Site / Book on GetYourGuide
• Seine River Cruise – Book on GetYourGuide
• Versailles –Book on Official Site / Book on GetYourGuide

We hope this Paris Pass review is helpful to anyone planning a trip to Paris. Feel free to leave us any questions you have about the Paris Pass below and we are happy to try to answer them! Have you used the Paris Pass? We’d love to hear from others who have also used the pass.

**Disclosure: We were provided complimentary Paris Passes by The Paris Pass managed by Go City® in order to write a review and provide feedback; however, this article contains only our own honest thoughts and opinions. We specifically chose to visit Paris and all the stated attractions on our own, and have since used and purchased the Paris Pass ourselves multiple times on trips to Paris **